The amount that charities receive from the sale of charity Christmas cards varies greatly between retailers, according to research from consumer Group Which?. While WH Smith will give 100% from the sale of charity cards to Children in Need, The Co-operative Group is giving the lowest percentage out of 16 retailers investigated – 7% to food charity FareShare.
“There are real differences between how retailers donate to good causes,” said Which? editor Richard Headland, “so people may want to look out for this if they are planning to buy charity cards this festive season.”
Aldi and John Lewis give 25% across different charities, with most other retailers giving between 10-20%. Lidl is giving 8% to CLIC Sargent, while Morrisons and Tesco have committed £50,000 and £300,000 respectively to their chosen charities, regardless of the number of cards finally sold. Asda is not selling charity Christmas cards in 2015.
According to the Greeting Card Association, an £50m is raised for good causes through the sales of charity Christmas cards each year.
“We are a major supporter of charities and good causes and fundraise in a number of ways,” said a Co-operative Group spokesperson.
“All the proceeds from all our bags for life sales will go to local good causes and as well as giving 10p per Christmas card to FareShare we are providing them with all our depot surplus food, providing a million meals a year. This Christmas our festive sandwich sales will also result in a £50,000 donation to our official charity of the year partner, The British Red Cross, and we aim to raise millions of pounds for them over the next two years.”
The Co-operative Party also sells its own Christmas cards, featuring festive Rochdale Pioneers, originally produced for an emailing mailing list. “However, they proved so popular that this year we’ve ordered more and made them available for sale online,” says the Party’s Ben West. “As with everything in the online store, all the profits go towards the Party’s campaigns, advocacy and other work.”
